Washington insurance commissioner creates AI Advisory Board
An AI Advisory Board has been created within the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) to give recommendations that inform the commissioner’s policy development, regulatory oversight, and consumer education efforts.
Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer convened the first meeting Monday, according to a press release.
“We know that AI is already used throughout our insurance and health care industries,” said Kuderer in the release. “The goal of our new advisory board is to ensure Washington State continues to be a place for innovation, while balancing emerging technologies with strong consumer protections. I’m grateful we have such thought leaders willing to volunteer their time on this important work.”
Kuderer and the chief deputy commissioner appointed the board members, including representation from the state Senate, House of Representatives, OIC, and businesses. Business representation includes State Farm, Verisk, and Women in the Cloud. Members serve two-year terms.
During the first meeting, the board reviewed the charter and expectations, discussed the use of AI in insurance, and identified initial priorities and working groups.
Last year, the OIC sent a bulletin to all insurers in the state reminding them that their decisions or actions impacting customers that are made or supported by AI or other advanced analytical and computational technologies must follow insurance laws and regulations. The bulletin was based on a model bulletin approved by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) in 2023.
The University of Portsmouth School of Computing also announced Monday plans to develop an AI system that can accurately pinpoint the damage to a car following a collision, according to a press release.
The system would also be able to diagnose and schedule necessary repairs, the release says.
It is being created for ABL 1 Touch, a car repair specialist, that provides services to the UK’s top insurance companies and vehicle fleet providers.
“It is an industry under increasing pressure to deliver enhanced service provision and find new ways to improve the way vehicle repairs are processed through an ever-evolving market,” the release says.
The project, scheduled to take three years, will enhance ABL 1 Touch’s operational efficacy and expand its service delivery capabilities, the release says. It says the development will also have a wider impact on the vehicle repair industry as a whole, as it will establish new technical benchmarks.
“This project will combine machine learning and computer vision to develop AI-powered systems that bring together engineers’ practical expertise with cutting-edge technology,” said Professor Mohammed Bader, who is leading the research, in the release.
According to the release, the “knowledge transfer” through the partnership will give ABL 1 Touch a competitive advantage. It would enable the company to expand from 29 to 60-plus repair sites.
Graham Robers, ABL 1 Touch’s chief commercial officer, said, “We work in a fast-paced industry that is driven by substantially varying vehicle damage types from many sources. Therefore, it is paramount that we find new and innovative ways to identify, prioritise, and schedule work into our sites. The need to generate scalable solutions that remove single-person dependencies and work on mass data learning protocols is something we embrace as a forward-thinking business.”
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